Back in Black
by Wicked Raygun
Summary: Xander returns to Sunnydale as an evil vampire… And that’s the easy to understand part.
1. Chapter 1 The Prodigals Sons Part 1

TITLE: Back In Black – (1/?)

AUTHOR: Wicked Raygun

E-MAIL: wicked_raygun@yahoo.com

SUMMARY: Xander returns to Sunnydale as an evil vampire… And that's the easy to understand part.

RATING:  PG-13

SPOILERS: General spoilers for seasons 1 through 7 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and for seasons 1 through 4 of Angel. Everything else is of my own invention.

DISCLAIMOR: I refuse to believe this is necessary. Does anyone here actually believe I own this stuff in any way? Well… To the folks who do own a piece of the Buffster and/or her friends and enemies, I mean you no harm. I'm simply borrowing your toys to put on a little puppet show. I promise to bring them all back in near-mint condition. Even Spike.

FEEDBACK: Everyone needs a little love. It makes the world go round and writers post faster. Just remember that the next time you want to know what happened to Nonsense. J

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This takes place roughly three years after the end of season seven, but in my version Sunnydale didn't go all cratery. The Sunnydale Hellmouth is gone though.

AUHTOR'S NOTES 2: Also, for those who are interested in some of my other work, including Hero Complex, and Nonsense, it can be found here:

And here:

That's my brand spanking new website, created by the wonderful and talented Joanne W. and was the coolest Christmas gift ever! Please, go to her site, read her fine work and leave many reviews for her as well.

Now, onto the show.

****************************************

Episode 2-20 Part 1 – The Prodigal Sons

****************************************

Another night. Another pointless patrol.

Routine was as dangerous an enemy as any demon for the Slayer. It dulled the senses, slowed the reflexes and filled one's head with dangerously distracting thoughts about the future.

Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing for any other human being on the planet, but for Buffy Summers-Liam, the Slayer and wife of the now human and ex-champion Angel, time to reflect on her life only made her want to run screaming for the hills.

It wasn't that she didn't love Angel, she did. She loved him with all her heart and soul. Being married to him wasn't quite the passionate fantasy she had dreamed about as a teenager, but in many ways it was greater than anything she could have possibly hoped for because it was real.

They took walks in the park during the weekends, went to work everyday, had fights, made up, paid bills, ate dinner… For the first time in their lives they lived in the world and were a part of it at the same time. And considering that for the longest time their lives had been ruled by destiny, it was an amazing accomplishment for the both of them

Yes, the two of them were amazing at the moments… it was the future they never could completely reconcile.

Angel had been a champion, and technically Buffy still was. Their lives had always carried with it a frightening amount of uncertainty about the future. But now there seemed to be nothing but possibilities, and that terrified her.

Children were suddenly no longer a distant possibility but a near-inevitability. They had long conversations about raising children. Angel had talked about his son Conner, a son who would never remember Angel as his father and was apparently better off for it, and Buffy spoke about raising Dawn, and how in many ways the Key made from her own flesh and blood was more her daughter than baby sister; which was something she had only ever admitted to Angel. They spoke about the dangers of raising a child in Sunnydale that even now without the Hellmouth still attracted more than its share of demons and vampires. Even the subject of colleges was brought up.

They both agreed that, despite all their fears, they wanted to have a family together. But they didn't want to rush it either. Both had agreed that it would happen, when it would happen.

Buffy sighed, hesitated for the briefest of moments then turned away to go home to sleep next to her husband and forget the stresses of her life for a night.

"You're not leaving so soon are you?"

Buffy turned wildly, recognizing the voice, a trace of a smile on her face.

"I mean, I just got into town again, and the least you could do is give me a hug or something."

Then she saw him.

"Xander!" she squeaked happily.

He wore a black leather jacket, with a half-unbuttoned, navy blue shirt underneath, a sleeveless, white undershirt peeking out from over the buttons, and a pair of dark blue jeans. Standing there looking so relaxed and with a grin on his face, he suddenly struck her as looking quite handsome. Her smile beaming, she ran to him with open arms to hug her old friend who she had not seen in nearly two years.

They embraced, and a cold, painfully familiar feeling came over her: one that rose from her spine to collect uncomfortably in her womb, making her nauseous and immediately alert. A feeling that warned her of danger…

She pushed Xander away and looked at him, truly looked at him. His grin was neither warm nor inviting, but rather predatory. He looked pale, as if the sun hadn't touched his skin in years. But his eyes… Dear God, she thought. His eyes!

Xander wore an eye patch the last time she had seen him to cover the hideous opening were once a warm, caring brown orb had been, but now… Both eyes beamed back at her cold, lifeless, merciless and foretelling death and destruction.

Xander's grin widened. Once a beautiful sight to Buffy, now his smile seemed a hideous mockery of her former friend.

Overwhelmed with despair, Buffy slowly backed away from the demon wearing Xander's face, all the while shaking her head in denial, some small part of her hoping she could dismiss this horror through pure will.

"What? You're not glad to see me?" Buffy continued backing away. "And after all I went through to change for you. Now, I'm just hurt. And I have changed, you know. I'm practically a new man. I'm certainly 'seeing' things in a whole new light."

Xander stepped closer to her. His movements were cold, calm and quietly menacing. How many? she wondered. How many victims had already felt the terror of this monster?

"Come on, guess how I'm different."

"Xander…" Buffy began, but couldn't find the words to continue.

"I asked you to guess," he said with a barely veiled threat in his voice if she didn't comply.

Buffy stopped retreating, steeling her resolve for what had to be done, preparing herself for the dreaded words that were going to make all this horror real.

"You're a vampire."

"Ding! We have a winner. Give the lady a prize." The demon wearing Xander's face broke out into a full smile and it was like a slap in Buffy's face, making her want to yell at it to stop defiling her friend's memory.

"Never could get one past you, Buff." Xander paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Well, okay, maybe there was one secret I kept from you," he said with that same damn, mocking, evil grin.

"Not that any of that matters anymore. It might be fun to see the look on Angel's face though," he said almost wistfully.

Buffy all but snarled at the mention of her husband's name. "You're not going anywhere near him," she threatened with her hands shaking, her nostrils faring, and her eyes glaring dangerously at Xander.

"Oooh," he mocked. "You always did get defensive when it came to your family. How are Willow and Dawn by the way? I haven't seen them in ages."

Buffy dashed forward and let loose a front snap kick, followed by a series of jabs that ended with a palm thrust and a spinning kick; all of which, Xander dodged with his superhuman speed.

Xander leaped away from the raging Slayer, laughing.

"Come on, you can do better than that… Slayer."

There was a way that demons said the word 'Slayer' that sounded like a fowl, hateful curse, and to hear Xander's voice say her title that way froze her for a moment, but only for a moment, before she removed her stake from the inside of her jacket. Her eyes narrowed and then she approached Xander more cautiously than before, looking for a weakness or a gap in his defenses that she could exploit.

While Buffy was being cautious, Xander was stalking her like a predator. His movements were slow and effortless, practically feline. His body seemed to glide as he moved toward her. And all the while that hated grin never left his face.

"Do you want to see it?" he taunted. "My true face?"

Buffy flinched and Xander smirked at her involuntary reaction.

"Do you want to see what it is you've done to me? And it was you, by the way. I forgot to thank you, so… Thank you. Thank you for giving me a reason to want this to happen to me. For letting me die," he finished slowly.

A part of Buffy's heart died right there, unable to deny that painful accusation. Somehow she knew that she had failed Xander, that in someway she was responsible for this… monster.

Buffy shook herself from her thoughts, determined to destroy this monster because she knew it was what Xander would have wanted.

Instead of answering him, Buffy stalked forward, her stake at the ready and her slayer instincts on full alert.

"So we're going to skip the drama, huh? That's kind of disappointing; I was expecting a little bit more… Oh, what the hell…" Xander's face morphed, revealing its true vampiric nature. "Sounds like fun."

Xander roared and leapt at Buffy, but never made it to her…

Buffy watched as someone threw himself upon Xander, tackling him to the ground. She approached the two figures wrestling on the ground, looking for an opening to end this fight. The two men made it up to their feet and Xander backed away, using his speed to his advantage, ducking, dodging and countering every move the other made easily.

Finally, they broke apart, the other man breathing heavily while Xander only smirked back at his attacker.

"It's about time, Bro. I've been waiting forever."

The two circled around the other, mirror images in their movements. And then finally Buffy saw who it was that attacked Xander and blinked in surprise. She told herself that it was impossible, that it couldn't possibly be true, but there was no denying it.

The other man was Xander.

******To*Be*Continued******

Yes, that's right. Two Xanders.

By the way, this takes place in a fictional season 2 Xander spin-off. Don't worry about needing to read any previous parts because there are none. I'll try to not confuse you guys too much, but if I fail at that give me the heads up and I'll edit it around.

Also, I'm aware of the fact that this story isn't exactly BX. If that's a problem, I'll post somewhere else.

Ray Rivera, AKA Wicked Raygun


	2. Chapter 2 The Prodigals Sons Part 2

TITLE: Back In Black – (2/?)

AUTHOR: Wicked Raygun

E-MAIL: wicked_raygun@yahoo.com

SUMMARY: Xander returns to Sunnydale as an evil vampire… And that's the easy to understand part.

RATING:  PG-13

SPOILERS: General spoilers for seasons 1 through 7 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and for seasons 1 through 4 of Angel. Everything else is of my own invention.

DISCLAIMOR: I refuse to believe this is necessary. Does anyone here actually believe I own this stuff in any way? Well… To the folks who do own a piece of the Buffster and/or her friends and enemies, I mean you no harm. I'm simply borrowing your toys to put on a little puppet show. I promise to bring them all back in near-mint condition. Even Spike.

FEEDBACK: Everyone needs a little love. It makes the world go round and writers post faster. Just remember that the next time you want to know what happened to Nonsense. J

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This takes place roughly three years after the end of season seven, but in my version Sunnydale didn't go all cratery. The Sunnydale Hellmouth is gone though.

AUHTOR'S NOTES 2: Also, for those who are interested in some of my other work, including Hero Complex, and Nonsense, it can be found here:

And here:

That's my brand spanking new website, created by the wonderful and talented Joanne W. and was the coolest Christmas gift ever! Please, go to her site, read her fine work and leave many reviews for her as well.

Now, onto the show.

****************************************

Episode 2-20 Part 2– The Prodigal Sons

****************************************

Buffy watched in stunned disbelief as the two Xanders continued circling around the other, their movements still eerily similar. The whole scenario was just too unreal, and left her feeling like she was in the middle of some nightmare.

And then the Xander with a vampire face spoke in a mocking tone, "You know, five minutes back in Sunnydale and you've already reduced your fighting repertoire to run-and-tackle. I mean, this is serious. We've been training, man. Is it the dessert air or something?"

"Could we just for once skip the Good-Ash-Bad-Ash routine and get to the violence?" the other Xander asked annoyed, removing a very long, double-sided stake from his dark blue denim jacket.

"Thought you'd never ask."

The vampire roared and rushed his twin, his right fist leading. The other Xander braced himself and blocked the punch with his arm, stepping in toward the vampire with his stake hand. But the vampire was faster. The stake was blocked by the vampire's other arm and went flying away. A few more dodged punches and the two broke off again, squaring off and staring the other down.

"You shouldn't play with pointy objects, Bro," the vampire mocked, indicating the stake that had been lost. "You'll poke your eye out."

The other Xander snarled and rushed the vampire.

Weaponless, the two then exchanged a series of punches that were nearly all blocked or countered in some way, each obviously familiar with the other's way of fighting. Then the vampire did something apparently unexpected when he grabbed the other Xander, pulled him close and head-butted him. He spun the dazed Xander around him for a moment, resumed his human face and pushed him away.

"Buffy! You have to kill him! He's evil!"

"What?!?" the other responded.

"Don't let him trick you! He's a monster!"

"We're wearing different clothes, moron. She knows you're the vampire," the surprised Xander snapped, before Buffy could respond.

"Yeah, I know," the vampire said conspiratorially, with a sly smile as he slipped back into his vampire face. "Was worth a shot though."

Snarling like a jungle cat, the vampire Xander tapped into his supernatural speed, becoming a blur for a split second before delivering a wicked haymaker that had the other spinning in the air.

Having been previously stunned into inaction, Buffy prompted herself to get involved, but before she could get close enough to do anything, the vampire Xander had the other's arm pinned behind him with his other arm placed over the other's arm and behind his head on the base of his neck keeping the other in a painful half-nelson.

"Not so fast, Buff," the vampire ordered with a sudden increase of pressure on the back of his twin's neck causing him to grunt in pain to further make his point of who was in control for the moment.

"Let him go," Buffy ordered.

The vampire scoffed. "Uh, no. I don't think so."

"What's the matter? Afraid to take me on by yourself?" Buffy chided, hoping to somehow distract the vampire.

"Not particularly," the vampire answered back, smugly. "But this one here might try to get involved again and that's just one too many variables for my liking. You have no idea how annoyingly resourceful this guy can be. Stay back!" he growled when Buffy took another step. A sharp gasp of pain was heard from Xander when the vampire put even more pressure on the back of his neck. Buffy stopped.

"Buffy," the other said with a lot of effort. "The stake… Finish it."

Buffy looked down to her feet, and noticed Xander's long-discarded, double-sided stake. With a dexterous move of her foot she flipped the stake up into the air and caught it, then placed her other stake inside of her jacket. She lifted her new weapon, standing there poised to strike.

"Oooh, threatening," the vampire Xander mocked. Then his grin turned vicious and he hefted the other Xander's body squarely against his own and put even more pressure on him, eliciting another yelp of pain. "More threatening," the vampire explained off-handedly.

"Buffy! Now!" the other Xander shrieked through gritted teeth, in obvious pain.

"Oh, you'd love that wouldn't you, Bro?" he asked rhetorically to Xander. "Have her kill us both at the same time? Wraps up everything nice and neat, doesn't it? Just because you're too much of a whiney baby to kill yourself doesn't mean you should drag your hero into it. That's just heartless."

"Buffy!" Xander said strained. "Don't listen to him. Do it!"

Buffy moved forward a step and the vampire started shaking his head.

"I wouldn't do it, Slayer. Even if you had a clear shot at me, just what do you think's gonna happen to my twin here, huh? We're linked. It's like that whole Toth thing. Kill one and the other goes along for the ride."

Buffy looked very unsure of herself at that moment.

"Buffy! He's lying!" The vampire put more pressure on the back of his neck, and Xander howled in pain.

"Not about this, Bro. And, besides, she's not gonna risk it now, and you know that." The vampire's gaze traveled up and down Buffy's body leeringly. "Obviously married life agrees with her. Don't you think, Bro? She's looking good, ain't she?"

"I swear to God, if you say 'good enough to eat,' I'm going to crucify you. Literally." Xander somehow managed to sound threatening, despite the obvious strain in his voice.

His vampire twin laughed loudly. "Nah, I passed the whole bad-vampire-pun stage a long time ago, Bro. You can only refer to little kids as fun-size so many times before it starts losing its charm."

Xander roared in anger, while the vampire only laughed harder.

"Well, this has been fun, kids, but Daddy's gotta go to work now."

The vampire threw Xander to Buffy and they collided together, finally landing on the ground ungracefully. Xander got to his feet as fast as he could, looking for the vampire frantically, a look of utter rage in his eyes.

"Damn it!" he cursed, before turning his anger on Buffy. "Why didn't you kill him?!? Why?!?"

"Xander…" Buffy began, but he was far too angry to listen to anything she had to say anyway, and he stormed away from her in disgust. With his back turned to her, she saw his shoulders slump in defeat, before he brought a hand up to his face to massage his forehead and sigh dramatically. When he finally turned toward her again, he looked so exhausted and weary that Buffy felt like crying.

"Do you have a cell phone?" he asked gently.

Buffy nodded dumbly, shocked by his sudden shift in tone.

"Call up the gang, especially Dawn and Willow, and set up a Scooby meeting as fast as you can. Let them know there's a vampire with my face running around, and if they see me… run." Xander sighed again. "If I'm going to explain all this, I'd rather it be just the one time."

Buffy nodded, quickly doing just that, calling up her sister first who quietly promised she'd get there as soon as possible, sounding nothing like the confident woman she had become over the last few years, then Willow who sounded as if she wanted to cry, but managed to hold herself together throughout the phone call, even promising to call Kennedy for her and then finally her husband, who cursed himself for not insisting to go on patrol with her like he usually did.

During the various phone calls, she would steal fleeting glances of Xander who looked as if he were concentrating on something and would occasionally mutter a curse under his breath. He looked equal parts terrified and enraged, but managed to keep himself still, when in the past he would have been fidgeting constantly. His face was covered with a day or two's worth of stubble and his hair was shorter then the other Xander's – perhaps an attempt to distance himself from the vampire, she wondered – but aside from that, he looked just as lean and fit as his doppelganger did.

Training, indeed, she thought.

But of course that wasn't the most shocking change. This human Xander didn't have an eye patch either. And it was humbling for the Slayer to see both her friend's dark-brown eyes once again.

"Done?" he asked finally, after she called Angel.

She nodded again. "Yeah. Willow promised she'd call Kennedy, and we're all meeting up at the Magic Box." Xander looked surprised. "Oh, uh, Giles had it rebuilt after… you left." Xander nodded then looked away.

That move hurt Buffy for some reason and so she moved past her initial numbed shock enough to start to get angry.

"Just what the hell is going on, Xander? Why do you have an evil vampire twin? And while we're talking about that, maybe you could include a small anecdote explaining your brand new set of peepers."

"It's complicated," Xander replied coolly, crossing his arms defensively. "And I believe I said that I'd only want to explain it the one time."

"Fine," she returned through gritted teeth, and began walking away. "Come on," she called over her shoulder.

Xander rolled his eyes and followed her.

When he had caught up to her, she said flatly, "You lied to us."

"How so?" he asked, his tone falsely calm.

"You told us a hundred times that you were living some nice, normal, happy life. People with evil vampire twins are not living nice, normal, happy lives."

"Nice, normal, happy. You know, I don't think I ever used those words to describe my life. Ever. And besides, last time I checked, my life was kind of my own to live. So please drop the you-just-killed-my-favorite-puppy act."

"So, are you slaying? Or is this some spell you cooked up?"

"Once, again. Complicated. And I'm only going to say it the one time. So stop trying to piss me off."

Buffy turned to him wildly. "I'm pissing you off?!?" she spat incredulously. "I just had a fight with your evil-vampire twin! At best, things like that only happen every five years!"

He turned toward her fully also, the two standing off against the other.

"Hey, Buff, it's not like I planned any of this. I never wanted any of you guys to know about what I did in San Francisco. I had a sneaking suspicion it might lead to a whole lot of yelling."

"And what is it you do, Xander?" she asked quietly, anger peppering every word.

"Well, if you're that desperate to know, I believe the technical term is 'demon hunting.' There's special effects, death-defying stunts, thrills, chills, spills. And, sometimes, there's ponies," he finished in a mocking tone.

A flash of hurt crossed Buffy's features before she turned away, looking angrier than before.

The rest of the walk was silent, but hardly peaceful. The tension between them felt like an oppressive, intimidating thing that neither felt like addressing or resolving for the moment. They made it past the cemetery gates and into the parking lot. Xander made it to his car, and then cursed.

"What is it?"

"I don't believe this. He slashed my tires. The evil bastard slashed my tires!"

Buffy sighed. "Well, come on, we'll take my car," she said pointing to a dark blue SUV that was across the street in another parking lot. Once they had reached it, though, they found that its tires had been slashed as well.

"I'm really not liking your vampire twin here, Xand," she said after finally calming down.

"Yeah, well, wait till he starts killing people you care about. That's when he really starts to grow on you," Xander said darkly.

Buffy looked at him then, truly looked at him, and saw the misery underneath the seething anger. Her face softened. Whatever Xander had done, she felt, it wasn't right for her to judge him.

"I'm sorry, Xander," she apologized. "I shouldn't have—"

"Just… don't worry about it," he said quickly, cutting her off. He sighed and then started walking around Buffy's car with a puzzled look on his face.

"I've never seen this car before. How in the hell did he know this was your car?" Then he came to the front of the car and looked down, his eyes open-wide in surprise.

That's when he started laughing. It was slow at first, beginning as an amused scoff, but it steadily grew into a hardy, gut-busting guffaw that began to hurt his sides and made him gasp for breath. Buffy hurried over to see what Xander was laughing at and saw that he was staring at her license plate.

She blushed. "That's not that funny," she said meekly.

That only made him howl harder.

She shook her head, but his laughter was so infectious that she began laughing as well.

After a while, Xander's laughter finally began to die down. He looked at the license plate and gave one last chuckle. "Slayer-One?" he asked amused.

"It was Dawn's idea," she answered back sheepishly.

Xander smiled at her and suddenly Buffy could see her old friend behind all of the rage and fear. "Can we hug now? I've really missed you."

Nodding slowly, Buffy smiled back at him and moved into his arms, closing her eyes, she melted into his embrace.

"God, I must've picked up the phone a million times to tell you everything," he said finally, still holding her.

She pulled back a little to look into his eyes. "Why didn't you?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I guess I was worried that you'd ask me to stop. And that I would."

Buffy smiled at him sadly, and then her hand moved to trace his left eye, utterly mesmerized by the sight of both of his warm, caring brown eyes staring back at her. Xander shuddered and stopped her hand, slowly bringing it down before releasing her completely and stepping away from her.

"How?" she asked simply.

Xander took a long breath, before answering, "It was this bracelet thing. It gave me superpowers for awhile—"

"Whoa!" she interrupted. "You've got superpowers?!?"

"Well, no, not anymore. It was a temporary thing."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it; it's not like I miss it or anything. It was evil, dark power anyway. And much destruction of private property ensued, trust me. It almost made me…" Xander closed his eyes and sighed. "Anyways, one of the fun little side-effects is that it gave me back my eye."

"Well, then everything turned out alright in the end."

Xander hesitated. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess." Buffy looked at him questioningly, and he sighed again. "It's complicated."

Unsure how she should react to that statement, Buffy looked down and said. "Well, come on. We better get going."

And with that they started walking to the Magic Box.

After a few moments of silence, Xander asked, "So, married life. How's that working out for you?"

"Only slightly less terrifying than an apocalypse."

"Angel snores, huh?"

Buffy gave him a withering look, but Xander just smiled lopsidedly at her. She shook her head, amused.

"All kidding aside, I'm happy. For the first time in… well, probably ever, I'm content. Things make sense. I have purpose, direction, a future…"

"It's driving you nuts, huh?"

"I've had no training for this!" she whined good-naturedly. "I mean, who would've thought that I'd be happy?"

"I did."

Buffy turned to him.

"You're a special woman, Buffy. I always knew it was only a matter of time, before the right stars aligned for you to have something real."

"Yes, and it only took a half a dozen prophecies, the world nearly ending several times and my dying. Twice. Life's too good."

Xander smiled.

"So what about you? Any special women in your life?"

Xander sighed. "Well, it's com—"

"Tell me 'it's complicated' and I'll have to hurt you."

Xander smiled. "Okay… Well, I'm single right now. Hunting down an evil-vampire twin is hell on your social life." Buffy smiled reassuringly at him. "There's been a few dates," he said slowly. "And, hey, only one of them tried to kill me, so that's gotta be a silver lining, right?" Xander joked, forcing a smile on his face, but Buffy didn't smile back. She could tell he was avoiding something.

"There was someone," he admitted finally with a trace of reluctance in his voice at having to discuss this subject with her.

"What happened?"

Xander shrugged. "She couldn't deal. The vampires, the demons… She told me that as much as she loved me…" Xander trailed off, closing his eyes and pushing the painful memories away. "It feels like a long time ago," he said sadly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm past the evil, soul-sucking guitar stage." Buffy raised her eyebrow. "Long story. Really don't want to get into it."

"Well, it sounds like city life hasn't been boring."

Xander scoffed. "No, definitely not."

"So what else has been going on in good, old Sunnydale?" Xander asked, a little desperate for a subject change.

"Well, let's see… Willow's not dating Kennedy anymore. They're doing the 'just-friends' thing. Angel's wearing earth tones now. Oh, and Dawn lost her virginity."

Xander broke out laughing, then noticed Buffy's silence. "Oh, god, you're not kidding, are you?"

"Nope. I'm just happy the guy was nice, normal and human."

"Huh… You can find one of those in Sunnydale?"

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

It didn't look any different from the outside. Same ugly, brick facing, same rusted metal doors… The place still looked like a dungeon.

"The more things change…" the vampire Xander muttered, leaving the rest of the cliché unfinished. He grinned.

The Bronze. The place had been more like his home than, well, his actual home. He had so many memories of this place. Good, bad… apocalyptic… They all start to blend together after awhile, he mused.

He could hear the music from his place in the parking lot, just beyond the luminescence of a streetlight, a shadow to the rest of the world.

His grin grew into a smile, and he began his walk to the Bronze, rubbing his hands together. There was something amusingly ironic about coming back to the Bronze, and he couldn't help but be excited. He should've come back to Sunnydale sooner.

He walked past the so-called security and was greeted by the sights, sounds and smells of about fifty high school adolescents and college students who thanked God they weren't still high school adolescents.

"First a game of pool," he said to himself offhandedly as he admired the large group of writhing young people on the dance floor. "And then maybe something to eat." He took in a long breath, savoring the essence of the Bronze in a way that he couldn't before becoming a vampire, and grinned at the thought of his next new game. Something that being in good, old Sunnydale he couldn't help but want to try.

"It's good to be back."

******To*Be*Continued******


	3. Chapter 3 The Prodigals Sons Part 3

TITLE: Back In Black – (3/?)

AUTHOR: Wicked Raygun

E-MAIL: wicked_raygun@yahoo.com

SUMMARY: Xander returns to Sunnydale as an evil vampire… And that's the easy to understand part.

RATING:  R

SPOILERS: General spoilers for seasons 1 through 7 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and for seasons 1 through 4 of Angel. Everything else is of my own invention.

DISCLAIMOR: I refuse to believe this is necessary. Does anyone here actually believe I own this stuff in any way? Well… To the folks who do own a piece of the Buffster and/or her friends and enemies, I mean you no harm. I'm simply borrowing your toys to put on a little puppet show. I promise to bring them all back in near-mint condition. Even Spike.

FEEDBACK: Everyone needs a little love. It makes the world go round and writers post faster. Just remember that the next time you want to know what happened to Nonsense. J

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This takes place roughly three years after the end of season seven, but in my version Sunnydale didn't go all cratery. The Sunnydale Hellmouth is gone though.

AUHTOR'S NOTES 2: Also, for those who are interested in some of my other work, including Hero Complex, and Nonsense, it can be found here:

And here:

That's my brand spanking new website, created by the wonderful and talented Joanne W. and was the coolest Christmas gift ever! Please, go to her site, read her fine work and leave many reviews for her as well.

Now, onto the show.

****************************************

Episode 2-20 Part 3 – The Prodigal Sons

****************************************

Xander sighed when he finally spied the Magic Box, an action which caught Buffy's attention. She didn't have to ask to know what was bothering him, but she decided that she would wait for Xander to bring up the subject himself.

"So…" he began slowly. "Who's running the Box, now?"

"Well, technically, Willow, I guess – legally, anyway. She handles all the magic stuff, suppliers and such. But Dawn's the one who handles everything else, though: bills, financial statements, making sure the roof doesn't fall in on our heads… It's more her shop than Willow's, really. She loves the place."

Xander nodded. "The more things change…" he said to her, poignantly leaving the rest of the cliché unfinished.

Buffy nodded, agreeing with the sentiment completely.

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

The bell hanging over the door of the Magic Box jingled, signaling Buffy and Xander's return. The first thing they noticed was Angel leveling a crossbow at them. He blinked when he saw Buffy and lowered it.

"Thank God," he said with relief evident in his every word and movement. "I was getting restless waiting for you." He approached Buffy and hugged her. The protective way he held her let Buffy know that the hug was more for his benefit than her own, and she returned it with equal fervor to soothe her husband.

"Did he really slash your tires?" he asked after a few moments.

Buffy shrugged. Angel frowned. "You know, it's one thing to try and kill you, but to go after the car…" he joked. Buffy's return smile was genuine.

Angel finally turned to Xander, seeming as if he hadn't noticed him before.

"Xander… Non-evil Xander?" he asked his wife. She nodded and Xander held out a cross, displaying the fact that his hand wasn't on fire. "I'd say it was good to see you, but under the circumstances… Are you alright?"

"I've been better," he said evasively, feeling slightly uncomfortable about having to witness the couple being intimate and feeling more than a little surprised that Angel had said so much so quickly.

Angel nodded, understanding not to press the issue any further.

Dawn, Willow and Kennedy ran in from the back room, each of them carrying various weapons and books.

"Are they here?" Willow shouted. And then she stopped cold as she saw Xander, dropping a battleaxe and several books to the floor in her surprise. Her hand flew to her mouth as she noticed that Xander wasn't wearing an eye-patch.

Standing just behind her, Dawn and Kennedy looked just as surprised.

"Hey, guys," Xander said somewhat sheepishly.

Willow and Dawn broke out of their respective trances and ran full-tilt toward Xander. They both threw their arms around him and each other, forming an awkward group hug, and clutched him fiercely.

Buffy and Angel watched as Xander looked vaguely uncomfortable for a moment before he finally gave in and hugged them back, a look of relief on his face.

Willow and Dawn moved back from him a little, standing there mouth agape as they looked on in astonishment at his new eye and, once again, Buffy finally saw hints of her old friend as he fidgeted a little under their gazes.

Willow made gaping, hollow sounds while vaguely pointing to Xander's eye and then her own, desperate to get her meaning across.

It was Dawn who finally asked.

"How did you get your eye back?"

Xander smiled sheepishly. "Well, long story short… Magic."

"Is it real?" Dawn asked in awe, reminding Xander of the tiny ten-year old in a ponytail he'd first met all those years ago.

"Real enough," Xander said with a small smile. "My vision's better than twenty-twenty."

"When?" Willow finally managed to say.

"Oh… A little over a year ago now," he said thoughtfully.

Both Willow and Dawn stepped back as if slapped.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Willow said, hurt and betrayal clearly etched on her features.

Xander wilted. He could always stand up to Buffy, but Willow and Dawn were another matter entirely. For the first time tonight, he truly felt like pond scum.

"I-It's complicated," he said with a nervous stutter and with all of his earlier conviction about living his own life gone.

Buffy held back her own scoff, knowing that Xander didn't need anymore antagonism; and so, instead, she intervened.

"Guys, there's other stuff we have to deal with now. There's an evil vampire that looks like Xander out there. Everything else can wait."

Xander spared a thankful glance to Buffy before looking back to Willow and Dawn.

"You should probably sit down. There's kind of a lot to tell." Xander caught Kennedy's eye, and nodded to hear. "Kennedy. It's good to see you again."

Kennedy looked back at him for a moment with the same intensity she used regarding anyone and then nodded back, a small grin on her face. "Likewise."

Everyone moved to the long table by the back of the store where all sorts of books had already been piled up and opened. Everyone sat down except for Dawn who went to retrieve the books that had been dropped earlier, and Xander who thought it would be better if he sat up for a while. He placed his hands on the back of a chair, leaning on it a little, as he looked back at all the expectant faces around him.

Xander sighed.

"Where should I start?"

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

Xander's cue stick dashed forward and back, coming eerily close to the cue ball without actually touching it. One last bob and Xander hit the cue ball flying above the oddly placed eight ball with a small jump before landing with a wooden clang on the pool board, sending it against the far wall where it rebounded at the exact place he'd meant it to strike. The ball rolled back and then struck the eight ball, sending it slowly to the opposite side of the board where it finally rolled into the corner pocket.

"Well, buddy, I do think that's my win. Pay up," he said with a grin.

The teenager grumbled, but pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"Now, now. Don't pout. You're lucky I won. I'm a very sore loser," he said, grinning much more wickedly now. The teenager just rolled his eyes and walked away.

Xander leaned on his cue stick and sighed melodramatically. "Kids today."

His eyes scanned the Bronze once again, but so far he hadn't found what he'd been looking for. He heard the creaking of the main entrance and turned to see who was coming in. He smiled.

"Finally," he said impatiently, before moving off to hide in the shadows.

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

Many things had happened over the past two years, and the fact of the matter was that, for better or for worse, Xander just wasn't the same man he was when he left Sunnydale. And standing there looking at the faces of the people he loved from his past, he never felt so different.

But how to explain that to these people, he wondered.

Xander shook his head and took a long, steadying breath.

"Okay… um, before I start, does anyone have any questions?"

Everyone but Buffy raised their hands.

"Questions that don't involve my eye?" Xander asked with a sigh.

All hands went down.

"Okay, different approach," Xander said to himself. "Uh, well, let's see… Oh, I got it. Uh, for the past two years, I've been… I guess, helping people, occasionally, with… uh, well, you know, uh… demons… and stuff." Xander took a deep breath. Saying all that had taken a great deal out of him.

"You're a demon hunter?" Angel asked, none too unsuccessful at hiding his surprise.

"Well, that would be the technical term."

"But I thought you were going to live a normal life?" Willow asked.

"Well, that was the plan. And for a little while I did, you know, live a normal life."

"And how long did that last?" Dawn asked.

"Oh… About a month." Everyone looked about to say something at once. "It just sort of happened," Xander explained defensively, hoping to head off the accusations. "One day I went to go get a cup of coffee at this diner, and the owner was… well, dead. And, well, there were vampire marks on him, and, you know, after seven years of active duty on the Hellmouth…"

"You got involved," Buffy finished for him.

"Right. And I didn't call you guys and told you what was up because I thought that it was over. I figured, it was just a fluke. You know, a random demonic incident, but… After a while, things just sort of kept happening and… I couldn't just do nothing," Xander finished with a sad sigh, before turning away from them.

Xander leaned on a bookcase and Buffy once again saw the misery that radiated from his very being. Bad things had happened to Xander in San Francisco, of that she was sure.

"Anyways… without going into a whole lot of detail, I ended up pissing off this coven of dark witches. I should've stopped them earlier, but I thought I could help them… I don't know, not do evil, I guess; like I did with Willow and…" Xander consciously trailed off again, seeming to the others like he was hiding something. "Well, they were the guys who made my evil twin."

"So he's a spell?" Willow asked.

"According to one of the witches I found… yeah."

"Found?" Dawn asked, somehow knowing she should dread Xander's answer.

Xander took a deep breath. "He slaughtered them. All of them. Then he desecrated the bodies so that I couldn't just cut off their heads to reverse the spell that made him." Xander scoffed in disgust. "He was very thorough about it."

Willow nodded, despite being disturbed by the imagery his words had brought up.

"Wait, if you found one, then that means one of the witches made it out alive, right?" Dawn asked.

"He found her later and finished the job," Xander replied darkly. "I couldn't protect her."

"Oh," Dawn said softly.

"Do you know what kind of spell it was, Xander?" Buffy asked to break the tension. "Maybe we could find a non-violence solution."

Xander sighed. "I know the purpose of the spell, but I don't know exactly which spell it is. And believe me when I say that we've looked through every spell book imaginable."

Everyone else looked at each other individually, noticing the looks of confusion on each other's face and decided that they hadn't heard wrong after all.

" 'We'?" they all asked in unison.

Xander chuckled nervously, then turned his head, feigning interest in the walls.

"Hey, have you, uh, painted the walls a different color since I've been here last?" Xander asked, avoiding the question.

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

She was struggling for her life down that alley. It was a futile struggle, of course, which was probably the reason why Xander enjoyed watching from a distance.

The power of it all, he mused with a wicked grin, so much more pleasantly intoxicating then the most powerful narcotic. He was tempted—more than tempted, really. Compelled—to let this struggle continue to its natural conclusion, knowing full well that her life had really been in his hands all this time as he let this creature of the night drain her dry.

But the practicality of the situation made itself known to him. It would be light in four or five hours, and he couldn't expect another group of vampires to come into the Bronze. Perhaps they finally figured out that to do so meant death at the hands of the Slayer and her team.

The bottom line was he was hungry.

With an almost reluctant sigh Xander dashed forward, taking as much advantage of his vampiric speed as he could without revealing his true face. He quickly staked one vampire, taking him completely by surprise.

"Let her go, demons of the night! Or face my wrath!" he bellowed in a mock-heroic fashion. Oh, he was going to enjoy this, he thought excitedly. The gallant savior, once again. If he wasn't a demon, he thought, amused, he would almost miss it.

The vampires turned to him, somewhat fearful until they got a good luck at him, They'd been expecting the Slayer—or one of, anyway. Now they were just angry that he had interrupted their meal and killed one of their own; although, they seemed to be angrier about the former than the latter.

Two rushed him headlong while the other held onto their meal. Xander snorted at the tactic and felt a pang of genuine regret. He shouldn't have killed that first vampire, but his damn leftover 'human' instincts got the best of him and now he was only going to have to fight the three of them.

How boring, he thought, as he dodged and countered the first barrage of clumsy haymakers that came his way.

He easily sidestepped one vampire's awkward kick, then grabbed the wrist of the other who tried to club him from behind with his fist. He kicked the first vampire away and proceeded to wrench the arm of the other vampire around until a wet snap was heard and the vampire's forearm had been broken so brutally that a sharp fracture grotesquely punctured his skin, his howl piercing the night as deeply as his bone fracture had pierced his arm.

The first vampire, after a prompting from his leader who still held their squirming would-be victim, rushed Xander again, but with much less enthusiasm.

Xander popped him with a short jab, ending any momentum the vampire had, and then stabbed his eye out with the sharp point of the bone fracture.

"Never rush somebody unless you mean it," Xander admonished the vampire with a grin.

Xander let go of his vampire playthings, pulled out two stakes and with no other fanfare staked the both of them.

"Just like old times," Xander said to himself, faking a flux of emotional nostalgia.

The leader holding the girl, shook with fear. "He-hey, m-man. Th-there's no need to get violent. Y-y-you can have her. I've been meaning to go on  a diet anyway," the vampire explained weakly.

"I'm not one of your kind, demon!" Xander bellowed, hamming it up as he remembered to stay in character.

"Huh?" the vampire muttered, confused by the whole situation. "Ah, to hell with it," he said before pushing the girl to Xander, hoping to make his escape.

Xander side-stepped the girl then grasped the vampire by his shoulders, flinging him toward the brick wall. Dropping his act, Xander leaned into his ear, and whispered pleadingly, "Can you try to at least make me look good? I'm trying to get laid here."

The vampire stared at him in complete shock.

"What?"

Xander shrugged then stepped back, giving the vampire enough breathing room to recover and fire off his own wild punch which he didn't dodge.

Xander stumbled for a second from the blow, more for show than any loss of balance he suffered. The vampire returned with a round of jabs that were more swipes in the air than punches. Xander dodged and blocked the first few punches then allowed the last one to connect with his chest, although he shifted his stance so that the last hit mostly glanced off him.

Xander played it up though and faked a stumble backwards, doing his best to hide his grin.

The vampire, meanwhile, was beginning to actually believe he was winning this fight, and began to mock Xander.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you're not exactly as tough as you looked."

Idiot, Xander thought snidely.

Deciding to go for the finish, Xander palmed a stake from his jacket and waited for the gloating vampire to come just a little bit closer…

"Just what the hell were you thinking, huh, pal? Did you actually think you could tango with ME and get away with it?"

'Tango?' Please… Xander scoffed mentally, faking a hacking, wheezing cough to hide his amusement. Just a little closer, moron…

The vampire stopped next to him, his hand curling to a fist to deliver another blow. 

"I want you to know all about me, before I kill you. I…"

The vampire released his punch, and Xander caught it with one hand and plunged his stake through his un-beating heart with the other.

"Hit like a girl?" Xander finished for him. "Yeah, I noticed."

The vampire crumbled into dust and Xander took great pleasure in blowing specks of his face away before it flittered away or fell to the ground.

Xander stood up dramatically and looked at the attractive girl cowering by a dumpster. Her skin was a deep shade of brown despite a tinge of pale from her fright with her hair hung about her cute face in rivulets.

Xander faked having bruised ribs by holding his midsection tightly as he walked towards her. His ruse of pain made her shiver.

"Are you okay?" he asked, feigning concern and pain.

"What were those things?" she asked in a clear voice, and Xander was impressed despite himself. Most people stuttered with fear after their first vampire attack, but this young woman had held herself together.

This is going to be so much fun, he thought.

"They were vampires," he said matter-of-factly. "They're evil." Xander briefly fantasized about ripping out her throat with his teeth and showing it to her before continuing. "You're lucky to be alive."

~~~~~~***~~~~~~

For twenty minutes Xander was chewed out by Buffy, Dawn and Willow respectively. Only Angel and Kennedy, mercifully, didn't say anything. In fact their only reactions were surprise—from Angel—and amusement—from Kennedy.

Finally, Xander lashed out.

"Hey!" he shouted at them. "It's not like I recruited anybody!" Xander paused. "Right away, anyway," he said somewhat softer. He mustered up his conviction again and finished with, "Believe me, I did everything I could not to get other people involved."

The gang quieted down a little, as Xander's indignation faded.

"After a while, that just wasn't an option anymore. Things got bad. Apocalyptic bad. And I needed the help."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Angel interjected. "Are you telling us you stopped an apocalypse?"

Xander hesitated, then nodded.

Angel smirked. "Well, whatdya know…"

Buffy, Willow and Dawn weren't amused, but were somewhat mollified by that.

Finally, Buffy spoke up.

"Xander, if things were that bad, why didn't you contact us. If there was an apocalypse, you should have called us. We would of come running."

"By the time I found out I was facing an end-of-the-world scenario, it was too late to contact you guys. And after that…" Xander sighed. "I got cocky," he said venomously. "I thought that we—that I—could handle it… People are dead because of that."

"Xander… what happened wasn't your fault," Dawn said. "You didn't ask for this."

"The hell I didn't!" Xander spat. "People I cared about are dead! Did you hear me!?! Dead! And all because I had a jonesin' to play the valiant superhero who does no wrong! I should have stopped those witches LONG before this! But I didn't have the guts!"

Xander fixed a glare on them all and spoke with a cold, low snarl. "Annie—the witch in charge of the covenant—she decided to play a joke on me and you wanna know what the punch line was? Me turning into a demon."

There were gasps from nearly all those in the Magic Box.

"Only she missed and hit a friend of mine instead. One of the finest examples of humanity you'd ever find on this miserable rock we call a world, and I had to watch him become a monster… I watched him chase down the woman he loved, and nearly snap her neck because he was hungry!"

Xander paused to take a ragged gasp.

"It was evil and wrong. And in order to get her to reverse the spell, I threatened her… When I should have done more than threaten…" Xander scoffed. "Only one sure-fire way to reverse a witch's spell… Cut off her head."

Everyone except Willow gasped… Willow just looked back at Xander in horror.  
  


"Xander that's enough!" Buffy spat angrily. Xander just snorted back at her contemptuously.

"Well, personally," Angel spoke in a menacingly calm voice, "I haven't met your evil vampire twin, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what he's like."

"Don't you dare judge me, Angel," Xander seethed.

"No, I think I will. Do you really think you're ready to take a life, Xander? You know, for the greater good and all… Because from personal experience, I can tell you it's a bit messy."

Xander scoffed. "You don't know what I'm ready for." And with that Xander turned to leave.

"Hey! We're not finished here!" Buffy yelled.

"Well, unfortunately for you, I am," Xander called from over his shoulder. "This was never a get-together. It was a courtesy call. This is my problem, not yours. I'll handle it."

"Like hell," Buffy muttered. "Willow, stop him."

Willow called out a clear word of power and Xander's arms and legs halted in mid movement. For a brief moment, Xander resisted Willow's power, but, in the end, his body involuntarily succumbed to her will and he was suspended half a foot from the ground. She willed him to turn around to face them all, and Xander glared at her, his face a painful mix of hurt and betrayal.

"Let me go, Willow," he said venomously slow, his muscles and willpower working furiously to combat the spell all the while.

Willow's concentration faltered for a brief second, but she kept up the spell.

Dawn moved up to Xander with shackles in her hands to bind him. Xander fixed his glare on her instead and she wilted, handing the chains to Kennedy who hesitated for a second until she took a look at the utter pain on Willow's face at having to assert her magic upon him.

Ex-girlfriend or not, no one made Willow hurt like that, she thought angrily. Then she placed the shackles on his hands. She then proceeded, with Willow's magical assistance, to tie him to a chair.

A look of insanity crossed Xander's features and then he laughed disturbingly.

"Be it ever so humble there's no place like home, huh?" he quoted.

******To*Be*Continued******


	4. Chapter 4 The Prodigals Sons Part 4

**TITLE:** Back In Black – (4/?)

**AUTHOR:** Wicked Raygun

**E-MAIL:** wickedrayguny...

**SUMMARY:** Xander returns to Sunnydale as an evil vampire... And that's the easy to  
understand part.  
  
**RATING:** R – Warning: Sexual situation ahead  
  
**SPOILERS:** General spoilers for seasons 1 through 7 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and for seasons 1 through 4 of Angel. Everything else is of my own invention.  
  
**DISCLAIMOR:** I refuse to believe this is necessary. Does anyone here actually believe I own this stuff in any way? Well... To the folks who do own a piece of the Buffster and/or her friends and enemies, I mean you no harm. I'm simply borrowing your toys to put on a little puppet show. I promise to bring them all back in near-mint condition. Even Spike.  
  
**FEEDBACK:** Everyone needs a little love. It makes the world go round and writers post faster. Just remember that the next time you want to know what happened to Nonsense. :)  
  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** This takes place roughly three years after the end of season seven, but in my version Sunnydale didn't go all cratery. The Sunnydale Hellmouth is gone though.  
  
**AUTHOR'S NOTES 2:** Also, for those who are interested in some of my other work, including Hero Complex, and Nonsense, it can be found here:  
  
http:wickedraygun.herocomplex.co.uk/  
  
That's my brand spanking new website, created by the wonderful and talented Joanne W. and was the coolest Christmas gift ever! Please, go to her site, read her fine work and leave many reviews for her as well.  
  
http:www.herocomplex.co.uk/  
  
Now, onto the show.

**Episode 2-20 Part 4 – The Prodigal Sons**

Xander wasn't even remotely hurt from the fight, but the fact remained that he still had to press upon this young woman—Miranda—that he was gravely injured. So he had to fake that every step was an utter struggle, and despite his injuries that he would not go to the hospital under any circumstances.  
  
It made for annoyingly slow going, but Xander couldn't help but be very excited by the possibilities of this particular game. He made a mental note to try it again sometime in the future if everything turned out well.  
  
Playing the wounded hero was just full of too many hilarious ironies not to be  
  
enjoyed.

---

"You don't know what he's capable of," Xander desperately tried to convey to them. "The evil... It's all just a game to him. He doesn't just kill to eat; he likes to play with his food. He's ruthless, relentless and ME for crying out loud! He didn't just come to Sunnydale on a whim. He's here to hurt every single one of because I care about you!"  
  
None of the Scoobies, save for Willow and Dawn looked even vaguely worried. As far as they were concerned, he may have Xander's face, but he was still just another vampire.  
  
Xander was aware of that. He was also aware of how dead wrong they were.  
  
Damn them, he thought bitterly.  
  
Buffy explained to them all how his darker half had told her that they were linked. Kill one, kill the other. Buffy, Dawn and Willow all cared for Xander too much to risk such a thing, so the decision was made to contain the demon somehow and then research vigorously to find a solution that wouldn't kill Xander.  
  
Xander cursed loudly at them, condemning them for what he knew was their stupidity. This only prompted Angel to place a piece of tape on his face to shut him up, and then later moved him to the training room in the back when his glowering at them had become too distracting.  
  
Nothing is ever easy for me, he thought glumly.

---

Oh, this was just too easy! Xander thought, doing all that he could not to break out in laughter.  
  
They were standing outside of Miranda's dorm room and she was offering to tend to his wounds for him in lieu of a hospital. He had been feeding her lies about him being some superhero sworn to protect the world from demons and vampires.  
  
Hook, line and sinker, he thought.  
  
Miranda stepped over the threshold into her dorm.  
  
"The polite thing to do is invite me in," Xander told her.  
  
"Oh, sure. Please, come in."  
  
Xander stepped into the dorm room looking at her disapprovingly, but inwardly he was celebrating.  
  
"Tsk, tsk," he admonished her. "You shouldn't verbally invite people into your home. If I had been a vampire you would have just removed your last defense."  
  
Miranda gasped. "Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Vampires can't come in your home unless you invite them in, right?"  
  
Xander nodded.  
  
Miranda's expression turned lascivious. "And how do I know you're not a vampire now?"  
  
"Well," Xander replied humorously, "my lack of sucking on your blood is kind of a good sign."  
  
Miranda blushed and laughed nervously.

---

After a while, Kennedy came back in with some water.  
  
"Now, if I un-gag you, you're going to behave, right? No yelling?"  
  
Xander rolled his eyes, but nodded. He'd been tied up enough over the years to know when to play nice. She took the duct tape off of Xander's face carefully, trying not to hurt him.

---

Miranda panted and moaned with each passing moment of pleasure. One particularly long thrust, and a long, guttural moan was broken by a hitching gasp, her finger nails digging into Xander's back. The clacking of the picture frames, the pounding of her body against the wall as she counterthrusted and the wet slap where their bodies joined, made her wonder cattily if the girls in the next dorm were enjoying the show.  
  
Another long thrust, and Miranda shrieked in a sweet mixture of pleasure and pain.  
  
Dear God, she wondered, how long had they been doing this?  
  
"Look at me," he demanded. She complied.  
  
Another series of long thrusts, each faster than the one before. Oh, God.  
  
She was close, so very close to another release. Her eyes drooped.  
  
"I said, 'Look at me!'" he growled. And she did.  
  
And then... she felt her insides begin to explode in heavenly release.  
  
Miranda stayed with him, looked at him. She saw the wicked expression on his face and smiled wickedly herself as her body clenched and clenched around him.  
  
Then his face changed and his mouth clamped around her throat.

---

Oh, God, no!  
  
Xander sputtered and he nearly choked on the water Kennedy had been serving him.  
  
"Hey! What the hell's the matter with you?!?"  
  
"Oh, God!" he moaned pitifully, sounding as if moments from tears. "He just killed someone," he whimpered in broken syllables. Xander took one long, shuddering breath gathering his anger. "Untie me," he demanded in a menacingly quiet voice. "Now!" he growled when she didn't respond immediately.  
  
"What makes you think he killed someone?"  
  
"Well, unfortunately for me, my better half likes to share. I can feel him, especially, when he does something particularly nasty."  
  
"My god," she whispered in horror.  
  
"Next time, it's not going to be some random Sunnydaler. Next time, it's going to be someone I care about. Someone you care about too. It's only a matter of time before he goes after Willow," he seethed. "And believe me, he won't just kill her...No, no, no. She means way too much to me for that. He'll absolutely destroy everything you and I have ever loved about her first."  
  
Kennedy looked disturbed by Xander's pleading for a moment, but then her face hardened. "I'd like to see him try. Willow's too strong for that. She'd annihilate you...him."  
  
"Would she?" Xander taunted. "Wanna bet her soul on that?"  
  
Kennedy slugged him in the stomach, not too hard, but hard enough to make his chair skid backwards a couple feet. Xander cough painfully, but brought his head back up to glare menacingly at her.  
  
"You could help me. Together, we can take him. And no one else has to die."  
  
"Why would I do that? You said it yourself, you're linked. What if killing him kills you too?"  
  
"Then I'm already dead. I just haven't made it official yet."  
  
The look of determination—no, obsession—in his eyes disturbed Kennedy and she shook her head. To hell with this, she thought and began to walk out of the training room.  
  
"They're wrong, Kennedy, and it's going to get them all killed. If you ever loved Willow..." he pleaded, leaving the rest of the sentence unfinished.  
  
Kennedy paused at his words for a few moments before growling and reaching for the knife in her boot. As she cut him loose, she warned him.  
  
"If you die, I'll kill you."  
  
Xander smiled.

---

Xander admired the ring on Miranda's finger for a moment before allowing her hand to fall to the floor with a smack. He grinned, appreciating the way he had laid her body on the bed: naked, her chest down, the sheets just stopping at the beginning of her back and her face carefully laid to the side.  
  
She was beautiful, he thought, but weren't they all?  
  
He gently caressed the small of her back.  
  
"I wish I could stay, but I just can't. Believe me, it's not you, it's me—a very annoying do-gooder me. But don't think I don't care, and that I don't know that what we just shared was special because I do. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't call me. I'll call you." Xander grinned wickedly at his own joke.  
  
"Oh, and by the way," he said before bowing down to whisper into her ear, "Was it as good for you?" Xander's face broke out into a sadistic smile before he began laughing wickedly.  
  
He slapped her rear and walked out of Miranda's dorm room, still laughing.

---

Xander tried to focus on his vampire twin, trying to read on where he was. It had worked a couple of times in the past and had lead to a few last second rescues. And the connection seemed to be growing stronger...He prayed that it would work this time as well. He needed it to work this time. To stake him, to end it once and for all.  
  
Xander sighed, and gripped the axe in his hand.  
  
He was feeling somewhat naked without his personal weapons, but those were back at the Magic Box and going back there was most definitely not an option. He had a better stash in his car, but they weren't going to be going anywhere near that and even if they were, time was an issue.  
  
So for now he would have to make do with the stake and axe Kennedy had provided him with. He'd certainly fought more with less in the past. Besides he still had the modified bulletproof vest Rose had crafted...  
  
Rose.  
  
Damn, he hadn't even checked to see if Rose or the Padre had survived the church's collapsing before he got in his car and went after his vampire twin. What was wrong with him?  
  
Xander shook his head. It was all moot anyway. His other half was close. Soon it would all be over. All of his sins would be paid for.  
  
In blood and ash.

---

Kennedy pulled over the car where Xander told her to. She grabbed her short sword just as Xander bolted from the car.  
  
"Try to keep up, Slayer!" he called back.  
  
"Oh, very funny," she grumbled, but soon she was right on his heels. After a few moments of running they cut into an alley and spotted their target.  
  
He looked surprised, then amused.  
  
"Felt that last one did you, Bro?" he mocked. "Did you get off on it as much as I did?"  
  
Kennedy watched the two stare at each other and realized they were in their own universe. What was going on was hugely personal, she could certainly understand that, but she and Xander would still have to work together to beat his evil clone.  
  
"Alright," she began, the rough outlines of a plan already taking shape, "here's what we do..."  
  
Xander's growl stopped her cold. A moment later his growl transformed into a powerful, feral howl of pure, focused hatred and rage.  
  
She was a Slayer, but damn if some distant part of her wasn't terrified of that inhuman sound.  
  
Xander exploded into action a split second later. He threw his axe on the ground—instinct yelling at him that he didn't need it—then ran full tilt into his doppelganger, colliding with him in a flurry of kicks and punches.  
  
For a moment, Kennedy hung back, watching as the vampire Xander fought with ease, calm and finesse while the human Xander fought with nothing but pure rage. She was absolutely entranced by the fight and the fact that the human Xander was holding his own against his faster, more powerful opponent.  
  
It had been a few years, but Kennedy could still remember how Xander fought. He had no real style, just instinct that allowed him to react to whatever his enemy threw at him. There were dodges, feints, tackles, wild, powerful punches that seemed to rocket out of nowhere. And he wasn't above fighting dirty. It had been impressive, but ultimately hadn't been enough to protect him from Caleb gouging his eye.  
  
Now, however, although she could see the desperation and rage clouding his every movement and countermovement she could see the practiced edge behind it all. Instinct still drove him, but it was an instinct honed by training, like a diamond: cut and polished to perfection.  
  
And his vampire-self was the shadow to his light. There was no back-and- fourth, no rise-and-fall. Everything Xander put into the fight, his darker half took easily and responded in kind.  
  
Kennedy shook herself from her reverie. She was a Slayer, damn it!  
  
Xander spun, dodging a half-hearted punch from his twin.  
  
"Fight me, you bastard!" His fist exploded toward him in a jab.  
  
The vampire caught the blow with one hand. "You're not ready yet, Bro," he retorted. A dark blur, and Xander was flying away from the vampire's palm strike. He collided against a window and crashed through it, landing inside the building, shards of glass falling on and about him.  
  
"You got the conviction," the vampire added quietly, "just not the heart."  
  
Then Kennedy crashed into him with a flying kick, sending him into the chain-link fence at the end of the alleyway, which he bounced off of awkwardly before falling to his knees.  
  
He looked at the Slayer and groaned. "Hey, can we do this some other time?" he pleaded. "I just ate and I'm pretty sore from all the sex." Kennedy pulled out her stake. Xander grinned. "Well, that's a 'no,'" he replied flippantly as his face changed.  
  
He leapt up to his feet and leered at her. "You know, you're pretty hot when you're trying to kill me. How sure are you about this whole 'gay- thing'?"  
  
"Sorry, you got the wrong Slayer. I don't do vampires."  
  
"Pity."

---

Dawn opened the door to the training room.  
  
"Hey, Kennedy, what's taking so..." The words died in her mouth as she saw the cut ropes lying on the floor next to the empty chair.  
  
"Buffy! Willow!" Kennedy fought the vampire with a sword in one hand and a stake in the other. She would swing her sword, keeping the vampire at bay, and attempt to stab him with the stake when he managed to get too close. For Xander's part, he basically bounced around on the balls of his feet, dancing around her and occasionally getting close to her to try to tempt her into making a mistake.  
  
And it was working.  
  
She was getting frustrated little by little and it was only a matter of time. And Xander was very patient.  
  
Then Xander ducked under a swipe of Kennedy's sword and rolled past her. Tapping into his vampiric speed he made a break for the axe. When he got near it a foot kicked it away from him. He looked up to see his human self scowling back at him.  
  
"Damn," he muttered before being kicked squarely in the face.  
  
He fell backwards, using the momentum to roll over and back onto his feet in a crouching position. He stood up then turned himself so that he had Kennedy to his right and his human twin to his left.  
  
"Now things are starting to get interesting," the vampire said with a smirk.  
  
Kennedy and Xander came at him at the same time. He dodged, danced, feinted, shifted stances; basically, he did all he could to keep his opponents at bay, something his human self had perfected long before he was created. But he had a dilemma. He had dropped his stakes back at the Bronze and without a weapon, he couldn't dispatch of Kennedy quickly and killing his human half was out of the question entirely. Unfortunately for him, his opponents had no such qualms about himself. He needed to knock Xander out of the fight long enough for him to finish the Slayer and soon.  
  
He dove at his human self, tackling him at his midsection. He rolled over the demon hunter, dexterously flipping to his feet before leaping an awe- inspiring distance to the wall, hoping he had timed this all correctly. His body twisted itself in the air before he bounced off from the wall with his opposite leg, and with the new momentum he performed a flying snap kick that nailed Kennedy, sending her a dozen feet away, her weapons flying from her as well.  
  
He landed deftly with a roll, spun around and grabbed his human half by his jacket, standing him up none too gently. He then proceeded to spin him around then hurl him toward the wall where he collided against the brick and mortar of the building, his body crashing awkwardly on top of a steel garbage can.  
  
The human Xander wasn't unconscious, but he was in a lot of pain. He would've moaned but the air had been knocked out of his lungs and he was sure a few of his ribs had been broken. So instead his mouth hung open in a silent, breathless scream of anguish.  
  
The vampire switched his focus over to the recovering Slayer. Just as she was getting to her feet, he hit her with a nasty uppercut, sending her back to the ground. She recovered even quicker this time and even managed to block a few of Xander's punches before he grabbed her arm and leveraged it painfully. As Kennedy was screaming, Xander grabbed her throat and began squeezing.  
  
"If I'm being too rough for you, let me know. I promise to be more gentle," he mocked her while sporting a wickedly gleeful grin.  
  
She tried to claw at his hand while multicolored dots danced in her vision. Xander snarled at her then threw her into the chain-linked fence with such force that her body broke through to the other side. Her body continued rolling grotesquely until it crashed into a wooden crate.  
  
"What's that? I didn't quite hear you?" he mocked her from afar.  
  
Just as she regained her balance and adopted a fighting stance, Xander ran past her.  
  
"Try to keep up, Slayer!" he taunted her from over his shoulder.  
  
She followed him. Past broken glass, wooden crates and steel dumpsters she followed him for what might as well have been forever. She leaped over fences, ran through an empty parking lot and passed buildings of varying shapes and sizes.  
  
She was a Slayer, damn it! And she was going to end this.

---To-Be-Continued--- 

Man, the document manager is a huge pain in the ass, when it comes to my formatting. Oh, well, it's better than nothing.

Next up: The conclusion of Episode 2-20 – The Prodigal Sons 


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